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- E - Elder.
A leader of Israel in the Old Testament; a leader of a local church in
the New Testament. In the OT elders
represented the nation (Ex. 3:15-18) and individual cities (Ruth 4:1-11).
In the NT, elders were appointed in fledgling churches (Acts 14:23; Tit. 1:5).
The primary task of a NT elder is to shepherd the flock, or local church
(Acts 20:28).
Shepherding God’s flock involves guarding (Acts 20:28-31), feeding (John 21:15-17), and guiding (Rev. 7:16-17).
Elders’ qualifications are listed in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.
Elders’ motivation and style are described in 1 Peter 5:1-4.
The NT word for elder is presbuteros (from whence comes the Presbyterian
Church); the word describing the job description of elders is episkopos, bishop, which means overseer. The Episcopalian Church derives its name from
this word. There are only two offices in the New Testament church, that of elder and that of deacon. See Bishop. See Biblical Eldership. Election.
God’s selection of individuals and peoples for service and salvation. The Old Testament is replete with examples of
God’s choices. God chose Abraham (Gen. 12:1-7), Isaac (Gen. 17:18-21), Jacob (Gen. 25:21-23), and the nation of Israel as a whole
(Ex. 19:1-6; Deut. 7:1-8).
God chose Moses as deliverer and prophet (Ex. 3:1-4:31), Gideon as deliverer and judge
(Judges 6:1-24), David as a king (1 Sam. 16:1-14), and Jeremiah as a prophet (Jer. 1:1-10). In the New Testament, Jesus chose Saul to bear His name before Gentiles, kings, and the sons
of Israel (Acts 9:1-16). Furthermore, in the New Testament Scriptures reveal that God has chosen some to
salvation (Eph. 1:4; 1 Thess. 4:2; 2 Thess. 2:13;
Tit. 1:1). It cannot be argued that God is unfair in
choosing. If God were merely fair, all
would be eternally damned. God has the
right to be more than fair, generous, or merciful, with whomever He desires (Matt. 20:1-16; Rom. 9:6-18), and as Creator, He has the right to
do whatever He wishes with His creatures (Rom. 9:19-21).
Election does not violate man’s freedom to choose (Rev. 22:17).
Frankly, however, inasmuch as fallen man is dead
in his sins, hopelessly influenced by the ungodly world, manipulated by Satan,
and strangled by the lusts of his own flesh, his freedom to choose God has been utterly compromised (Eph. 2:1-3).
He is a slave to sin and inimical to God. As such, he does that which he wishes to do. Unless God works in the heart of a human,
none will ever wish to choose Him (Rom. 3:9-20).
So if any are to be saved, God must choose them. God’s choice is not based upon man’s merit,
for as a sinner estranged from God, man has none. God’s choice is solely gracious, and for that
He is to be praised (Rom. 9:11; Eph. 2:8-10).
In today's America, for example, there is an ongoing battle over
what constitutes fairness. Conservatives believe that fairness means
providing equal opportunity, while Progressives believe fairness means providing equal outcomes,
at least up to a point. Let us not be guilty of imposing human
"feel-good" definitions of fairness on God. God clearly issues an
invitation, and thus the opportunity to all to be saved, but He imposes His invitation on no one. Every man does that which he wishes to do (Mark 10:17-23).
But men are so trapped and deadened by sin that unless God chooses
some, none will ever be saved. For a fuller discussion of these
matters, see God's Part in Salvation - Election.
Eschatology.
The study of last things.
Eschatology deals with the prophetic Scriptures. WordExplain adopts a dispensational approach
to prophetic Scriptures and holds that Israel has an abiding place in God’s
plan for both the present and the future earth.
The Church has not replaced Israel in God’s plans, but rather presently
occupies God’s program of blessing and evangelism. Israel is currently in a state of temporary
blindness (Rom. 11), but that will only last until the
times of the Gentiles have been completed (Luke 21:24).
The main events of eschatology include the present Church Age,
terminated by the Rapture, followed by the Tribulation,
Christ’s Second Coming and Millennial Kingdom, the Final Revolt,
the Destruction of the Existing Universe, the Great White Throne Judgment, and Eternity in the New Jerusalem
and on New Earth. Eternity. Infinite existence backward and forward in time. Once man comes into existence, he exists forward in time into eternity, either in a state of life or death. For humans death is never cessation of existence, but rather separation from God and, ultimately, from all that is good. Life is union with God, and, because God is good, participation in goodness. God, as an infinite being, has always existed and always will exist. God has existed from eternity past and will exist, unchanged, into eternity future. God is truly eternal, the only One without beginning or ending. Eternal Kingdom. Technically speaking, the reign of Jesus Christ commencing with His Second Coming in power and extending into eternity, since the angel Gabriel assured Mary her son would sit on "the throne of His father David," "reign over the house of Jacob forever" in a kingdom that would "have no end" (Luke 1:32-33). Practically speaking, however, we define the Eternal Kingdom as that portion of Christ's reign in which He "hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power, having placed "all His enemies under His feet" and having abolished the last enemy, death (1 Cor. 15:24-26). That
is why, from a practical point of view, we must limit the Eternal
Kingdom to the co-regency of God and the Son from their single throne
in New Jerusalem. Though Jesus begins His Millennial reign by
vanquishing all his human enemies (Zech. 14:1-15; Rev. 19:11-21; Ezek.
20:33-38; Matt. 25:1-46), not all his enemies will be destroyed. His
arch enemy, Satan, will be restricted for the thousand year duration of
His earthly reign (Rev. 20:1-3), but then he will be released from the
abyss. At the conclusion of the Millennium, he will succeed in
deceiving incredible numbers of unregenerate humans, who will revolt
against the King and His administration. They will be thwarted by fire,
which comes down from heaven (Rev. 20:7-9). Satan will be seized and
deposited in "the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 20:10)," the
existing universe will be destroyed (2 Pet. 3:7-12; Rev. 20:11),
and the wicked dead of all ages will be judged and deposited into
the "lake of fire," which constitutes the Second Death (Rev. 20:11-15).
Then God will create New Heaven and New Earth, a universe in which only righteousness exists (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1, 8, 27; 22:15). New Jerusalem will descend out of heaven, heretofore, the abode of God. From this point on both God the Father and Christ the Son will dwell with man eternally in New Jerusalem in conjunction with New Earth, inhabited by a multitude of nations, all of whom have 24-hour access to the capital city. In the Eternal Kingdom, there will no longer be any sea, God will dwell among man. He will wipe away all tears, and He will banish forever death, mourning, and pain (Rev. 21:1-4). The capital city, New Jerusalem, will be the home of both Israel and the Church. It will be a city of prodigious size and breath-taking beauty and glory. "From the single throne of God and of the Lamb" will flow "the river of water of life," and residents of both New Jerusalem and New Earth will have ready access, not only to the fruit of the "tree of life," but also to the energizing benefit of its leaves. God the Father and Christ the Son will be seated on their throne in a co-regency throughout eternity. His slaves will serve Him (meaning both worship Him and serve Him) in intimate fellowship with Him, and they will reign with Him forever. Evidently there will be work to do on behalf of the King throughout eternity. The word reign, basileuo, is the standard word for a king reigning. There will be no opposition to God and Christ, but there will be administrative requirements in New Jerusalem and on New Earth. Conquest, police action, detection, prosecution, judiciary action, and incarceration, no. Organization and administration, yes. What a glorious, eternal time of fellowship between God and man and among men, and service on behalf of the King will be the lot of all the redeemed for all ages! Eternal Life.
Eternal life is union with God through Jesus Christ, and since God is
good, eternal life is the experience of goodness into infinite time
forward. Man, fallen sinner that he is,
lives in a state of spiritual death, separated from God, and thus dying
physically. If his spiritual death
remains unremedied, his decaying physical life will be terminated in physical death.
Then his end can only be second death, eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.
Eternal life can only be obtained through faith in Jesus Christ (John
3:16). Faith in Jesus appropriates for
oneself Jesus’ sacrificial death on behalf of sinners. Faith accepts Jesus’ payment, and God acquits
or justifies the believing sinner, crediting him with righteousness and eternal
life. Eternal life is a present
possession of every believer in Jesus.
The ultimate end of eternal life is eternal existence in fellowship with
God and Jesus in New Jerusalem
upon New Earth. Eternal
State. Popularly, heaven
as it exists in eternity. More
accurately, the eternal state consists of New Heaven and New Earth with New Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven to exist as the eternal capital city of redeemed and
immortal humanity upon New Earth. Evolution.
The unproven theory, unquestioningly assumed as fact by most in the
scientific, academic, and political communities, that all that exists today
sprang explosively and thus miraculously by accident from disorganized matter from a point in time about 4.6 billion years
ago. Evolution assumes the eternity, or
at least the pre-existence of matter, with no real attempts to explain its
origin. Evolution
as defined here refers
to macro evolution on both a cosmic and biological continuum. It refers
to the development of solar, astral, and galactic bodies from
random chance, as well as the miraculous emergence of life and
subsequent transition from one biological specie to another, also by
random chance. (Creationists freely
admit the existence of micro evolution, development within a specie.) The theory of evolution requires that one
believes
(the word is deliberately chosen) that order proceeded by accident from
disorder, that life proceeded by accident from non-life, that purpose
proceeded by accident from meaninglessness,
that intelligence proceeded by accident from mindlessness,
and that morality proceeded by accident from amorality. Existentialist
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was at least honest about the
implications of evolution. If evolution, with its law of the survival
of the fittest is true, he maintained, then, hate is the noblest of
virtues. The doctrine of evolution assumes (without
proof) uniformitarianism, the belief that present geologic processes have always occurred at
the same rate of speed. (Creationists believe that special creation followed by catastrophism is a far better explanation
of the evidence we see everywhere in the world. Catastrophism is
brilliantly illustrated, for example, in the rapid deposition of strata
after the eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980.) The doctrine
of evolution assumes random, yet upward mobility of life forms through the agency of
mutations (information accidents), which are assumed to be beneficial. (Have you ever experienced a beneficial accident?) These accidental alterations in information
advance life forms through “survival of the fittest” sorted out over vast eons
of time. The whole process is said to be
illustrated in the fossil record, which starts inexplicably in the “Cambrian
explosion” and is astonishingly devoid of transitional life forms, if evolution
were actually true. Though most
evolutionists would deny it, evolution has become the essential scientific,
academic, and political dogma, which to question is just cause for
excommunication from public discourse. The
theory of macro evolution is inimically opposed to and incompatible
with the God
who has revealed Himself in the Bible. The earliest evolutionists were
at least honest enough to admit that the doctrine was invented in part
to obviate any responsibility to a Divine Creator. Modern day
evolutionists are not nearly as candid. Evolution, in my mind, is one
of the
biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated on mankind. The progress of evolution
in
the United States of America has nurtured a galloping cancer in this
country. This once great and noble country is rapidly declining into a
lobotomized citizenry who willfully suppress the truth and discard God,
in the process reaping His wrathful judgment as outlined in Romans 1:18-32. Yet there is always hope for those who believe the Good News (Romans 1:15-17)!
If you are interested in discovering reality from God's point of view
and participating in the Good News that a loving God has brought to a
world of desperately deluded and depraved humans, read Romans chapters 1-8. Romans 9-11
deals with the question of whether or not a faithful God can
permanently set aside His special nation, Israel, even with all her
faults. Romans 12-16 outlines practical ways people who have embraced God's Good News are exhorted to live as children of light in a dark and depraved world! Exegesis. Accurate explanation of any document, but referring specifically to the Scriptures. In John 1:18 we read, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” Jesus has accurately explained God. The word explained is the Greek verb exegeomai, from which comes our English noun exegesis. Accurate exegesis of Scripture depends on a literal, grammatical, historical interpretation of the text in a process that accounts for figures of speech. Exegesis is concerned with the intent of the original author of the text. The opposite of exegesis is eisegesis, which means that the reader reads into Scripture a meaning he has superimposed on the text. In eisegesis, a reader can force any meaning he wishes on the text, which results in a misinterpretation. Believers in a fluid or living Constitution, for example, are guilty of eisegesis. They are guilty of subverting the purpose of the document. As serious as that is, they are guilty only of destroying a nation. Those who subvert the intent of the Biblical text are guilty, in many cases, of damning gullible souls to eternal damnation. Exile. Judah's
seventy-year captivity in Babylon. Though there were times when the
nation of Israel worshiped God whole-heartedly, there were many lapses
into idolatry. After the division of Israel into the Northern and
Southern kingdoms as a judgment against Solomon and his late syncretism
into idolatry (1 Kings 11:1-43),
both kingdoms succumbed to idolatry. The Northern Kingdom, known
as Israel, had nineteen kings and all were idolatrous. The Southern
Kingdom, Judah, was ruled by twenty kings. Only eight were good kings.
The other twelve were evil. Assyria deported the Northern Kingdom into
captivity in 722 B.C. There was no return. Because there were some good
kings, the deportation of Judah was delayed by many years. Babylon
conquered and began deporting Jewish people from Judah in 606, 597, and
586 B.C. The Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem and Solomon's
Temple in 586, leaving only a handful of Jewish people in the country.
In response to the decree of Persia's King Cyrus in 538 B.C.
authorizing a return to their homeland, Zerubbabel led the first
contingent of Jewish exiles back to Judah in 536 B.C. (Ezra 1-6). Ezra led a second wave back in 458 B.C. during the reign of Artaxerxes, a later Persian king (Ezra 7-10). (See the Outline of the Book of Ezra.) Nehemiah returned in 444 B.C. to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem. This event is described in the book of Nehemiah. (See the Outline of the Book of Nehemiah.) If you have difficulty locating a file, please contact the Web Master. Updated April 2, 2010 Background and Button Image Credit |
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